In hindsight
by PhoenixTearsAndScorpions
Summary: Peter can't forget about what happened to him. Tony tries to help him, while dealing with his own guilt about the event. Meanwhile, will his biggest secret stay under wraps as he deals with school, new villains and not to mention the avengers...


**Disclaimer: obviously (and sadly might I add) I don't own any of any of the characters in this story!**

 **This is based off Spider-man: homecoming, and is set after homecoming...**

* * *

In hindsight, as Tony lifts the figure that is slumped on the floor, he knows he really should have paid more attention to his code. In fact, who is he kidding anymore, he's really fucked up this time, he should have realized straight away that the suit wasn't safe, that if a teenager could- He stops himself at this point, thinking about the mistakes he's made won't bring back the body in his arms. And so instead, he asks F.R.I.D.A.Y. to call Banner and uses his suit thrusters to fly out of the wreckage and into the clear blue sky.

* * *

His head is throbbing mercilessly as he gradually comes back to consciousness. He feels woozy and it's mercilessly bright even with closed eyes, but to Peter it feels better than anything he has felt in the last few days. He really really hopes that he wasn't dreaming when he saw the flash of red and gold smash through the concrete walls of his cell and hopes to whatever gods there are that the familiar voice that had told him he was safe now was real.

Slowly, he opens his eyes, blinking to adjust to the light. He can make out a white ceiling, a fan slowly rotating and as he looks to the corner of the room, a person in a chair.

He almost jumps out of his skin at that, his heart is racing and his stomach is churning with the sudden rush of adrenaline but he forces himself to look closer, and he can make out the long brown hair and tired eyes of –Aunt may? Peter looks away, tears pricking at his eyes, and then looks back. Sure enough, it's Aunt May and she's sleeping and she's real and she's breathing and-

Peter's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the door opening and a disheveled Tony Stark walks through the door, his tinted glasses held in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He looks over at the hospital bed, and there's a short intake of breath.

'Hey kid.'

'H-hi Mr Stark' Peter manages to scratch out, his throat still dry and voice unused to speaking.

'No. Don't you start speaking when you're not fully healed, you know that your'-he smiles briefly- 'fantastically beautiful Aunt will tell me off and I can't deal with that.'

He sounds stern, but his body language screams relief and Peter can tell he's trying not to smile, so in return Peter smirks and pointedly rasps out,

'Well, who am I to stop May from doing what she feels is right Mr Stark?'

Tony lets out a short bark of laughter and puts the coffee cup on the window ledge next to Aunt May.

'Maybe I'll go and tell the doctors to put you under again shall I' He says and moves to go out the door, before turning back to Peter who now looks mildly alarmed,

'I'm joking kid, but I'm still going to get the doctors, they need to know you're awake.'

He leaves Peter with a still sleeping Aunt May to wonder how bad he must have been when Iron man rescued him for him to be visiting personally.

When the doctors do come, they say that even with his powers, he clinically died, and he's been unconscious for two days since the surgery. They say that he's recovering quickly though and he should be able to leave within the week if his body keeps healing itself like it's doing now. Peter doesn't really know how to react to that, simultaneously feeling relief that he is able to see May again and not die in that hellhole but also panic at remembering the pain and the helplessness that he felt while he was there.

Over the next few days he tries to forget about the whole experience, those five days, but every now and then something will trigger a memory, a flash of pain and that horrible voice telling him that he will die there. It's silly things, the IV line, and the glass of water that the helpful nurse puts on his bedside table but Aunt May helps. She gets him hot chocolate, and whispers consolations in his ear when she notices his panicked looks.

Stark also visits every now and again, bringing blueprints of his latest modifications to the suit (once Peter can face looking at the suit again), and Happy drops by as well.

By the time Peter leaves the medical bay, Ned has phoned 57 times, he's got a box of chocolates from Principal Morita and Aunt May will basically only stop hugging him when she needs to get food or sleep. Oh and did he mention that the avengers- the flipping AVENGERS – visited him personally. Apparently it's one of the first things they do as a group since the whole mess with the accords and Peter can honestly say that aside from becoming an actual superhero and fighting some of them in Berlin, it's the coolest thing he's experienced in his entire life. True, they just thought he was Tony Stark's intern so they didn't really know him, he spent the whole time trying not to apologize to any of them and man did Wanda's powers still scare him but it was still awesome!

He gets back to Queens on a Tuesday, and is surprised by the normalcy of everything. He suddenly feels guilty that Spiderman hasn't been there to help around, but really, he couldn't have got better any faster. May is shepherding him up the stairs to their apartment, and when he gets to his room, nothing has changed since he last saw it. He spends the night phoning Ned, catching up on the latest gossip, listening to his friend talk animatedly about the Lego quinjet model he's thinking about investing in, and tries not to think about the fact that he's got to go back to school, to society, tomorrow morning.


End file.
